Interlude III: Sibyll

He walked down the road until there were no more street lights and the sounds of the city was a distant whisper. He saw the river through the forest and followed a trail that lead him to the hill. The river stretched below him, bending towards the east. The bridges that spanned across were dark and silent. There were no stars in the sky tonight. Only a few lights in east district's crumbling old buildings twinkled through the haze.

He sat there and waited. When he felt the slight warm tingle on his skin, he looked up towards where the river met the sky in the east...

...where the horizon was slowly turning gold.

It had been years ago.

She had saved his life, he knew that. He was grateful then, even as he struggled to accept what she had made him into. She'd given him a place to rest, and she provided him with sustenance. All of this he accepted.

But she had done more for him.

One by one, she hunted his killers down.

He never asked her to. By the time he learned, it was too late to protest. He wanted justice, but he didn't want their deaths.

He learned quickly that she didn't care what he wanted.

For the next few nights, she'd leave him on his own. Daylight was painful, and only entombed in complete darkness was he able to rest. He was constantly hungry but normal food repulsed him.

Before dawn, Sibyll would return, like a mother bird to her hatchling. He'd drink hungrily what she provided for him. Soon, she told him, he'd have to learn to hunt for his own.

He amused her, but Sibyll was hardly patient with him. She was adamantly clear that he could leave if he wished, but he most likely wouldn't survive without her help. He stayed because there was no where else for him to go. He couldn't go home.. not ever again.

She had been alive for centuries she told him and had indulged herself in all the pleasures the world had to offer her. If she had told him that she had been a queen, he would have believed her. She wasn't born into nobility, she would tell him, though she was surrounded by it all her mortal life. After a few centuries of her existence, she decided she would marry into it. She took her husband's name and accepted the title of Countess.

But even that she grew bored with. Mercifully, sims only lived a small number of years.

She was beautiful and graceful. She had an air of delicacy but Wesley could never forget how dangerous she was.

One night, he decided to leave the safety of her lair. He watched her as she left and followed her. He knew that she was aware of him.

She let him follow.

He'd never been in a place like this before. The young and wealthy that gathered here was the ideal prey for Sibyll. He knew he couldn't just walk in through the front door as easily as she just did.

He hadn't quite perfected the art of shapeshifting, and the idea of it still disturbed him.

Nevertheless, there was no difficulty finding a way into the club.

Once inside, he became quickly aware how easy it was for vampires to blend into the shadows and mask themselves from normal sim minds.

Through the pulsing coloured lights, the garish decor and the well dressed people, he found her.

She had promised her companion a night she wouldn't forget. The girl couldn't refuse.

She was young... probably his own age. She didn't seem as naive about the world as he had been though. Her eyes sparkled in the club lights and her laugh trilled above the heavy music.

He'd never know her name. It would be the girl's last night of her life.

He had followed them to the dark parking lot a short distance away. He stood frozen in horror and watched as Sibyll fed.

He felt sick, realizing that this was what she did when she left at night. That this is what he'd have to do too.

Death soon arrived.

"Well hello there, young Mr. Vaughn. It's good to see you up and about."

"You're here for her?" Wesley asked. "You're here for that girl."

"Indeed I am." Death answered. "Young people are always so quick to trust strange new acquaintances, wouldn't you say? Oh don't fret, Wesley, the Countess is a most efficient hunter. The girl hardly felt any pain, I'd even wager that she had herself a splendid time right until the end there, yes?"

" I.. I could have stopped her. I could have kept Sibyll from killing her...."

"You could have tried, and you might have failed miserably. But you made that choice and there's nothing you can do, especially now that I'm here. Hopefully you've at least learned a few things about this vampirism business a long the way. "

"I never wanted this." said Wesley. "I don't want to live at the expense of other people's lives."

"Then you'll be in for a long and difficult existence. Believe me, you wouldn't be the first vampire to go on about it, nor will you be the last."

Wesley hesitated before he asked his next question. "When will you come for me?" he said, his voice shaking. "When will I die?"

Beneath that dark cowl, Death seemed to chuckle.

"Oh if I had a simoleon everytime someone asks me that. I will come for you when your time is up, and not a minute sooner." Death turned towards the Sibyll and the girl. "Though your kind survives for longer than most, eventually everything meets an end, and I'll be right there showing them the way out."

"I can't promise that it will always be comfortable, but it's the way it goes. That, my dear boy, is all I will tell you. Now I'd love to stay and chat some more, but there's a matter of this young lady's soul that I must attend to..."

"Keep your spirits up, Wesley. It will all come together for you in time."

It was always disturbing, being in the presence of Death incarnate. Wesley had avoided seeing it again for years after that encounter. Reluctantly, Sibyll taught him how to hunt without killing his prey. Even that was too much of a burden on him. Causing any one pain, despite how careful he was, with the danger of killing them always present; it was too much for him to bear.

Sibyll had made it seem so easy. He waited for everything to make sense to him the way it did to her. For everything to come together, as Death had told him. It never did.

He wasn't Sibyll. He'd never be her. Slowly he began to withdraw from her. Until he found his way here, realizing that he was ready for the sunrise. Ready to meet Death again.

But all that came for him was her.

In the shadows of the trees, Sibyll called his name. He could have run, but he could never look away from her.

He was never able to turn away from her.

"You'd end it all so soon. So easily, Wesley." she said. "Not many can say they are immortal, yet you'd throw that all away."

"The cost is too high, Countess." Wesley looked at her, his face emotionless. "I can't do this anymore."

The anger in her voice cracked and faltered. "Then you would leave me."

"There is a reason why we are all here on this earth, Why we exist. Why we do what he have to do. Everything has a purpose. Even the likes of us." Sibyll told him. "For all I know, you could be mine. I cannot stand by and let you kill yourself."

"I've tried, but I can't live like this. I've lost everything, Sibyll." Wesley said. "I've lost everything I was before you made me into this."

"Do you think I had a choice to live this way? No one was there to save my life. This was a curse... a punishment that was brought on me for the unspeakable things I've done in the short time I was mortal. Unlike you, there was no one there for me to care for me or guide me. But I was alive, and I knew that meant something.

"Don't speak to me of loss. I've endured more pain, for much longer than you ever have. For a thousand years, I've carry it all inside me and I could never let it go. I've watched everyone I've ever loved die before me while I linger alone.

"I've been alone for so long. I will break if I watch you die." She held out her hand to him desperately. For once, there was no danger in her eyes. Her mask fell away and behind it was fear and vulnerability.

"Please," she begged. "Come with me, Wesley."

He had never forgotten how her eyes looked in the streetlight on the first night he met her. He'd never forget how they looked at him now. He could feel the sun behind him, it's warmth like pins digging into his skin, destroying his resolve.

He ran to her, where the shadows of the trees kept them safe. In that moment, she was everything to him.

The city was different now. The buildings were taller, and more lights filled the streets, countering all the stars in the clear winter sky.

It was a very long time since he's been here last, where the river bent and the bridges spanned across it. He didn't know why he'd come. This was where Sibyll had saved him so many years ago. It would have been the second time she had saved his life.

And ultimately she died trying to save him again.

He stood there, feeling drained and empty. He wanted to forget about Clara and what she did to him, but it was impossible. She had killed Sibyll and there was no way he could seek revenge.

But he didn't want it. For everything Clara had done, he wasn't angry. He had been just as willing as she was to enter the pact. He wanted what she offered and for a long time he'd held on to that one hope; that he could be normal again. Sibyll was wrong. He didn't need a thousand years to experience all the pleasures in life. He just needed to be able to stand in the sun, taste food harvested from the earth, and watch his children grow happily. He wanted to be able to sleep and dream, wake every morning holding the one he loved in his arms until they grew old and died. He couldn't survive a thousand more years if he had to do it alone.

Despite that, Sibyll was also right about one thing. He was here for a reason, and Clara was just a part of it. For once in his life, he finally realized what that reason might be.

And once again, she was in danger.

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Credits: The sim I used as Sibyll's victim is labelled "Eden" by Iosiren, but for the life of me I can't find her online. >_< If I'm mistaken, I apologize!

Notes:* more of Wesley's background in Chapter 22* The club that they visit is my makeover of the Lulu Lounge. :D You can see a couple more pictures on my tumblr here.* Also, some of you might recognize the parking lot set from my very first livestream. :D* I've meant to put parts of this interlude up in other chapters as flashbacks but for whatever reason, they never seemed to fit. I realized that this all kept being "pushed up to the next chapter" so I decided to make an entire update of it. It doesn't seem like a real chapter to me, because it really doesn't drive the plot at all, but at the same time, it gives you details about Sibyll and Wesley that can explain some future points.

Thank you always for reading and being patient with me. As always, let me know what you think, your feedback is always welcome. ^_^